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Students Unite! The Information Security and Ethical Hacking Association

Youngstown State University and the STEM College have many student organizations. Many of these organizations work hard at what they do, but few can say they have the same dedication as the Information Security and Ethical Hacking Association. On Saturday, February 15th, 2014, members of the ISEHA competed with eight other schools for nearly eight hours at the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.

The state competition was held remotely at each of the participating colleges. This year’s team is Taylor Williams, who is also the team captain, Jeremy Nation, Michael Hrishenko, Ashley Neumeister, Joseph Duncko, Samuel Egry, Michael Slavens, Tim Gealy, and Bert Amoline, the team’s alternate. ISEHA has participated in this event for the last three years, but this is the first time under their new advisor, Jonathan Eddy.

“It’s pretty much as close as it gets to real world experience,” says Samuel Egry, ISEHA Treasurer, “It’s a controlled environment, but the situation’s pretty much the same kind of situation when you face an attack in the real world.”

A cyber attack can mean a number of things. Recently, for example, it was in the news that Target and its customers were victims of a cyber attack where their credit card information was stolen. The controlled attacks in the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition were preformed by what are known as “ethical hackers,” or professional penetration testers. Their job is to try to get past a company’s network security using various different tactics. The competition allows them to practice how to defend themselves, and their future companies, from these attacks.

The Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition isn’t the only event that the ISEHA attends. They also participate in Hackademic, a capture the flag type competition, and CyberWars. ISEHA is one student organization that prides itself on being one of a kind. While each of the members unites under one common goal, informing the community about cyber security, each member is different.

To join the ISEHA, a student doesn’t have to be an information technology major, in the computer science field, or even in the STEM College in general. Even those who major in art or English can become a part of the group, as long as they have the passion for information security. If you would like to join the ISEHA or would like more information on them, join them for a meeting on Fridays at 5:30 in Meshel Hall 116 or visit them on their website here!